Garden, Paella & Adventure in Southern Spain! 🌱 Help with outdoor projects & enjoy authentic Spanish cuisine. 🥘 The Casitas await you! ⛰️

Hi, I'm Sarah and I'd like to welcome you to the casitas. I am looking for people who have energy and initiative, who like working outdoors and are not afraid of hard work, and who want to experience a taste of real campesino life in a rural and remote part of Andalucia. Volunteers who genuinely want to learn and who put out their best effort are pure treasure to me, regardless of skill or experience. But if you're handy or have a special skill, all the better!

I like to think I am easygoing (if you've heard of Joe Dispenza, I do his meditations) but I am also quite determined and focused about reaching a goal. The projects you will be working on are to help fulfill my vision of turning this diamond-in-the-rough into a mostly self-sufficient homestead. If this sounds like an experience you think could go all-in on, I'd be super happy and grateful to have your helping hands as I slowly but surely bring my vision into reality. I hope you come along for some of the ride!

I do not have a staff. This is a solopreneur type of project! This is not yet a real homestead, more like a work in progress. I have traveled a lot and I enjoy getting to know people of different backgrounds and have an exchange of opinions and ideas, even if my thoughts and opinions happen to be very different from yours. That's actually when it becomes the most interesting. When I was in my 20's, I traveled throughout Europe and Eastern Europe through a host-traveler program, where I stayed in people's homes and got a real taste of each country I visited through the eyes of people who lived there. It was the absolute best part of my 9 month nomadic adventure. I see this concept as very related to that kind of travel and homestay experience, offering people from different countries and cultures a chance to know each other at a personal and maybe even spiritual level. I'll also note that although I spent most of my life living in the US (New York City and New England), I am not your typical American by any means. In fact, ever since living in Spain as a college student, and in the years following when I married a Spanish artist and had my two daughters, I have felt more affinity with the Spanish culture and lifestyle than to the US. Since I'm no longer married and my daughters are at university, I'm doing this thing on my own for the most part, which is both thrilling and terrifying -- but mostly thrilling. I offer a simple private bedroom in one the casitas, with a shared kitchen, living/dining area, and bathroom. There could be up to 4 people in total in the casita. There is also good wifi in the casita. Note that the only heating source is a wood stove in the living room. (I can show you how to use it so the space gets nice and warm.) The bedrooms do not have heat, though they do have thick blankets, and it does get cold in winter. Summers are hot and sunny. The working schedule is about 5 hours/day and 5 days/week. The work is dependent on time of year and your skills and abilities. It is 95% outdoors, and often very physical. Weeding out tough plants with a hoe, cutting through thorny brambles, moving firewood and pruned branches -- this is the type of stuff you could be doing. There could also be some painting, some planting, some cleaning, some chicken coop maintenance -- depends what needs doing when you come! You might also join me on some projects that require many hands. In any event, you get the idea. It's real work in the campo. As well, if you are experienced in carpentry, landscaping, pruning, wood-splitting, irrigation work, construction, handyman type stuff, or anything else, please let me know as there may be specific tasks you can help with. As for food, I provide provisions for you to cook your own meals and you have an independent kitchen (shared with other volunteers if there are any). On occasion I might cook up something delicious for everyone, but the day to day routine is that you prepare your own meal from the pantry and fridge which I stock with the essentials: milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pasta, legumes, cheese, sugar, flour, coffee, condiments, etc. Having said that, if you have special food needs, wants, or cravings, you're welcome to join me in town and buy those items yourself at the local Carrefour supermarket. The town of Cadiar is a 7 minute drive down the hill (or a 40 minute walk) if you want to check out our local supermarket and other shops. Transportation: The closest airports are Granada and Malaga. The closest train is Granada. To get to my place by public transportation, most people take a bus from either Granada or Almeria to Cadiar, and I would pick you up at the Cadiar bus stop.